Over the river and through the woods

We had such a fun, memorable Thanksgiving! We packed up {loaded to the gills with snow gear, food, blankets, games, more food} and headed to the Bar M Ranch, nestled in the Blue Mountains. We met up with my parents and sister's family and we had such a great time. The drive was a tad longer than my Dad said. So by the time we got there Todd had decided the "M" in Bar M was for "millions and millions of miles past the last Bar M sign." We stayed in the Ranch House, which is the oldest building still in use in Oregon. It was dreamy there. The land is amazing and there are tons of old outbuildings, an entire one devoted just to saddles and tack {sigh}, a gorgeous old barn with big, green doors, horse pens, raspberry bushes galore, a river, a swinging bridge that led to one of the coolest things of all ~ the hot springs. They created a pool that is fed by the hot springs, how awesome is that?!  The ranch is actually in Bingham Hot Springs, which was first settled by a physician who used the hot springs as part of his treatment for his tuberculosis patients. Such neat history and so, so beautiful. We had fun looking at the pictures hanging on the walls of horses and carriages parked right outside the exact building we were staying in. I love history and old things so I was in heaven. I've been wanting a digital SLR for a long time, but man I really wanted it there. It was a photographer's dream! This was our kids' best road trip yet, which was nice considering it was quite a drive for just 2 nights. Well worth it though for the great memories!

Right after we arrived Mom and Dad were dying to show us around. This is our 1st walk across the swinging bridge, which of course my Dad made extra swingy {which is responsible for the smiles and the blurry picture}

More swinging, of a different kind:)

We split up meals and the 1st dinner was mine. I fixed homemade spaghetti, salad, bread and pumpkin cheesecake, here is my little Sous Chef hard at work.

Tackling cousin Adam.

Snuggling with Rach.

S'mores!

Ninny's lover boy.

Official dude & dudette.

 Dave manning the griddle at breakfast time.

 Country-style blow dryer after bath: the fire.

 I wanted it to snow so badly! I can only imagine how pretty it would be there blanketed in fresh snow.

Bedtime stories. Please go to sleep, please go to sleep....They actually did great, probably because they slipped into a cold-induced coma:) Holy ice cubes it was cold.

Dad took me and Steph on a walk after dinner to see the barn and tack room. This is the back of the Ranch house, isn't it adorable?!

A bear had climbed the roof above the kitchen a while back and scratched off some shingles, yikes. The guys were packing heat any time we were outside just in case. Even Mitch and Charlie knew "Papa shoot bar, kill bar, bars bite!" They have a bear trap set up and Dad went to check on it with the kids, the only thing they had captured was a racoon. The kids had fun watching him scurry away after Papa let him go.

The girls' birthday! 15 and fabulous;)

The front of the Ranch House.

Hot cocoa after our *chilly* morning walk.

My turn to make lunch, nacho bar! Again with my little cooking buddy.

Mom having her way with the turkey;)

Dad with his 2nd love, his Traeger. Cookin' up prime rib and turkey.

The barn, heavenly!

We unwisely decided to try for group and individual family pictures right after the twins' nap, can you say "cranky?" If you got our Christmas card, you can see us in all our crabby glory the whole season long.

Charlie gave me a smile, yahoo!

Mitchy, not so much...

As always, getting a good picture of Dawson on cue is as rare as a lunar eclipse.

The plan is for my parents' church {they just bought the ranch} to get horses again, my Dad and I already picked out our saddles:)

That glorious barn ~ L-O-V-E

Family photo-op in the barn, not the best lighting but not half bad, everyone's looking at the camera, a Christmas miracle indeed.

Meet the Sour Puss family. Well at least Todd and I are smiling {kind of}.

Finally a smile from Mitch, just took warming up by the fire and a sucker.

We grew up with a wood burning fireplace as heat, I loved always having one blazing at the ranch, felt like home.

Snuggle sandwich.

French kisses are always in order.

I think this is a not-so-subtle message from Aunt Stephy.

Papa plays horsey games a little different than most folks. It includes joining a posse, shooting people, bank robberies, etc. Always a hit with the grandkids.

Dawson likes Papa's horsey rides, too...

And so does Mitchy....

And apparently so does Ninny:)

Um, I was sliding down the banister. Why you ask? Good question.

The girls birthday celebration on Friday. We like to make holiday babies in this family.

I am in a lot of pictures with my pie... inside joke:)

Todd and his mini-me.

If I'd known someone wasn't bringing real whipped cream I would've gone on strike. But canned whipped cream is better than no whipped cream.

Ella played ping pong in Papa's hat a lot, she is such a free spirit and so...special;)

Yahtzee!

Notice all these goobers on their phones?! Whatever happened to good old fashioned family fights over the holidays?

The drive home was gorgeous. Beautiful farm land and amazing old barns and churches. I think Todd got sick of me saying "oh my gosh, look at that beautiful barn!" by about the 900th time. And sadly not a single picture of those beautiful barns and churches because I was driving while Todd was studying SafeMine manuals:)